need some insight....

Hello jungle ladies! I have some questions and would appreciate hearing others' experiences or insights on the effects of estrogen and progesterone in the body. I have been taking vivelle dot. I was wondering, does one's body make more progesterone to balance out the supplemented estrogen? How do I know if I need progesterone added? THe symptoms of estrogen excess and progesterone excess have many common symptoms!!! Also, I read somewhere, I wish I could remember where, that sore nipples is related to extra progesterone. Which is what I have right now. My breasts don't really feel tight and achey, but my nipple area is more tender and sore. Oh, forgot the biggest detail... I ran out of patches and am not currently taking in estrogen. (By the way, I have my ovaries but am being treated for perimenopause) So, I'm thinking that my sore nipples are related to excess progesterone. I am also having night sweats--which is a sign of not enough estrogen, yet I have plenty of vaginal secretion which suggests enough estrogen? Sorry if this post is confusing. Probably because I am confused My past experiences with progesterone creams haven't been so great. I usually feel more lethargic, bloated and witchy. However so many books swear by progesterone cream and how they have helped their patients. The only other book that I have come across saying the opposite of this is Dr. Vliet's book "Screaming to be Heard". What are your impressions and experiences with all of this? Thanks in advance for letting me pick some brains out there on trying to hash out what we are being told and what we are actually experiencing!!

Hi!

I've moved your post here to the Options & Alternatives message board since at this point you haven't had a hysterectomy and input you would get in the Jungle is very different, since most of us posting there are in surgical menopause in addition to having no uterus. We want you to get the best information for your circumstances.

My understanding is that estrogen should never be used without progesterone when the uterus is still intact as unopposed estrogen carries an increased risk of endometrial cancer. So, I think you should definitely contact your doctor and have a discussion about this.

There are a couple of sites I would like to recommend that may be helpful to you with hormone therapy while you are still figuring out if you will have surgery or not. One is www.dearest.com and the other is www.minniepauz.com. Both are geared toward women going through natural menopause.

Best wishes to you! Let us know what your doctor says, okay?

s

Hi (((ruthless))) From your other posts, I see that you are considering a hysterectomy for prolapse and you are undecided about removing your ovaries. The Hormone Jungle is a good place to read about how other ladies are coping with balancing their hormones without ovaries or a uterus. However, it sounds like your current questions relate more to what you're experiencing now, in natural perimenopause.

I agree that the symptoms and their interpretation can be confusing. The nipple tenderness is usually a sign of estrogen dominance. That's not the same thing, though, as too much estrogen; what it means is that you have relatively more estrogen than androgens (though your levels of everything could in fact be low, leading to the hot flashes at the same time). What we usually do in the Jungle with tender nipples or breasts is put a little progesterone cream on them to oppose the "excess" (well, relative to androgens) estrogen. For me that definitely does the trick.

Everyone is different in our response to progesterone cream. I don't do well on very much of it -- I have to keep the amount quite small. That's OK for me, because I don't have a uterus to worry about getting endometrial cancer, but it's not OK for you. If you're going to be using estrogen, you must use sufficient progesterone with it to protect your uterus.

Even if you are not currently using the patches, you do have working ovaries, plus estrogen can be made in abdominal fat cells, so it is entirely possible that what you're seeing is estrogen dominance. Adding more progesterone may help, though if you start getting too much progesterone, it can either exacerbate symptoms of too little estrogen, or it can start converting to estrogen itself. Your DR might be better able to answer questions about how to handle your hormone balancing when you still have an intact uterus and working ovaries than we can here... and the two websites (((April Dawn))) mentioned are great resources for women in natural menopause and perimenopause, too.

s,
-Linda

Thanks so much for taking the time to give me the info.
I am scheduled for my hysterectomy in April. I will keep my ovaries and hope for the best!! This site is such a wealth of information and it is so encouraging to be able to come here and to get support.